The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 160 pages of information about The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes.

The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 160 pages of information about The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes.

(g) July, 6 and 7, a fairly definite tendency to take the one next in order or, instead, to go directly to the right box.

(h) July 10, direct first choices without approach to other boxes appeared for the first time on this date.

For this problem, it proved impossible to establish and maintain uniform conditions of experimentation.  Instead, because of the failure of the animal to improve and the tendency to discouragement, both punishment and reward had to be altered from time to time, and other and more radical changes were occasionally made in the experimental procedure.  Below for the sake of condensed and consecutive presentation, the most important conditions from day to day are arranged in tabular form: 

CONDITIONS OF EXPERIMENT FROM DAY To DAY FOR PROBLEM 2

Date Punishment Reward

May  17  ............. 20 sec. confinement ........  Food in right box for each
(Aid after 10 trials)        trial
"   18 to 21 ........ 30 sec. confinement ........  Food (banana) in right box
for each trial

" 22 to June 2 ....  Illness, no experiments

June 3 ............... 15 sec. confinement ........  Food (banana) in right box
for each trial
"   4 ............... 30  "        " .............  Food (banana) in right box
for each trial
"   5-10 ............ 60  "        " .............  Beet, carrot and loquat, in
addition to banana
"   11 .............. 10 to 30 sec. confinement ..  Beet, carrot and loquat, in
addition to banana
"   12 to 15 ........ 60 sec. confinement ........  Beet, carrot and loquat, in
addition to banana
"   16 .............. 60  "        " .............  Banana and sweet corn--former
preferred
"   17 (1st series).  60 sec. confinement ........  Food (banana, as in early
series)

" 17 (2nd series).  No confinement in wrong box; Food only for correct first
but instead, return to choices
starting point by way of
alleys

"   18 to 22 ........  No confinement in wrong box; Food only for correct first
but instead, return to       choices
starting point by way of
alleys

 " 22 (2nd series).  No punishment; allowed to Food for each trial
                         enter boxes until right
                         one was found
 " 23 ..............  Return to starting point. 
                         After five wrong choices
                         of a given box the animal
                         was held for 60 secs. in
                         one of the boxes and was
                         then released by way of
                         the exit door and rewarded
                         when the right one was
                         chosen

"   23 (2nd series).   No punishment ..............  Reward for each trial

" 24 (1st series).  Return to starting point. ..  Food only for correct first
choices

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.